Jakarta- Solidarity marches in Indonesia, like other countries of the world, carry many messages that are reflected in the behavior of the solidarity activists, the most prominent of which is the boycott of companies related to Israel, or that have explicitly announced any forms of support or sympathy within Israel.
Over the past two months, the boycott has expanded remarkably in Indonesia, which has the largest Islamic market in the world, and whose population this year is estimated by the Indonesian Statistics Authority to reach 278.8 million people.
A fatwa spurred the boycott
The boycott campaigns had not become evident among Indonesians, until the Indonesian Ulema Council last month issued Fatwa No. 83 of 2023, which became the jurisprudential basis for the boycott campaign among the public.
The fatwa – which came in 9 pages – requires that zakat and alms funds be directed to support the struggle of the Palestinian people to gain their independence in the face of Israeli aggression, and prohibits any support for Israel or any party that supports it, even by opinion or influence to buy products that support it, according to the text of the fatwa.
Supporting fatwas were also issued, including those issued by the Issues Research Committee of the Nahdlatul Ulama Association in West Java, which saw the boycott as imposing kifaya in solidarity with the people of Gaza, and as weakening the economy of the occupation and those who have a relationship with it.
The Indonesian Ulema Council did not issue any lists of companies to boycott. More than one list of products that were called for to be boycotted was spread by activists and tweeters, and not by any official body or specific institution. The Secretary of the Fatwa Committee of the Indonesian Ulama Council, Miftah al-Huda, said that his council is not authorized to issue such Those lists.
Vice President of the People’s Consultative Council, Dr. Hidayat Nur Wahid, supported the fatwa of the Indonesian Ulema Council, and suggested that legislation be passed to boycott Israeli products, in light of their committing crimes against the Palestinian people, to be a legal basis for the boycott, and to confirm Indonesia’s position towards Palestine and the occupation.
Nour Waheed called for the establishment of a body concerned with this matter that would collect information and be an information reference for everything related to the boycott, and who should be boycotted based on the relationship with Israel and its aggression, and the activities of those companies inside the country.
Companies complain
Some companies began to feel the impact of the boycott campaign, and the head of the Indonesia Retailers Association, Roy Mandy, spoke about the impact of some products related to Israel, with rates varying between 40-45%, and the impact of the boycott on other products decreases to between 15-20%. . Expressing his hope that the boycott period will not last more than 3 months. Because this will affect factories, shops and the workers in them.
The Indonesia Chamber of Commerce and Industry, through its CEO, Yuki Nugrahawan Hanafi, called on the government to play a role in mitigating the impact of the boycott. Because, in his view, it affected the industrial sectors and workers, noting that the Chamber of Commerce and Industry focuses its interests on promoting local economic growth, and does not interfere in geopolitical issues, as he said.
Secretary General of the Indonesian Modern Markets Suppliers Association, Asuti Liman Sudi, said that the companies that faced the boycott are companies of a local production and operational nature, and have no connection to Israel, noting that retail trade could be affected by 50% if the boycott campaigns continue for a longer time.
The head of the Indonesian Association of Retailers and Shopping Center Tenants, Budiharjo Edwanshah, confirmed that the boycott has affected the retail sector by rates ranging between 10-40%, expressing his concern about the impact of locally made products, and its impact on the Indonesian economy.
In the same speech came statements from the head of the Indonesian Businessmen Association, Shinta Kamdani, in which she expressed her sympathy for locally made products that faced a public boycott, even though they had no connection to Israel, and that this affected merchants in the markets and the possibility of leading to the layoff of workers in companies affected by the boycott. While consumers boycotted it due to its relationships with international companies and brands, its names spread on boycott lists on social media.
Opportunity for local brands
However, in contrast to the views of these businessmen, other merchants see the benefits of boycotting brands and products related to giant multinational companies in promoting alternative local brands and products, and the official in the Ministry of Cooperatives and Small and Medium Business, Koko Haryono, sees this as an opportunity for the local product. To provide the consumer with a national alternative.
Suhindarto, a researcher at the Indonesian Financial Rating Authority, believes that the boycott may lead to the layoff of employees in companies, but it also means that the consumer will move towards alternative products and services, leading to an increase in the production and expansion of other companies.
Former Indonesian Vice President and President of the Indonesian Red Cross Society, Jusuf Kalla, says that citizens must be wise in their boycott behavior, so that this does not negatively affect locally made products, warning against creating problems as a result of irrational consumer behavior by boycotting products that do not deserve to be refrained from purchasing.
Ironically, Gecko stores – one of the Indonesian brands – were negatively affected. Because its name sounds Western, some customers mistakenly boycotted it, even though its owners are Indonesians who established their business in 2005, and it has 344 branches in Indonesia and its neighboring countries, and it has displaced similar American stores from leadership in the local market.
Arif Luqman Hakim, professor of Islamic economics at the University of Muhammadiyah in Malang, believes that boycotting Israeli products is a denunciatory and objectionable behavior, noting that this is an opportunity for the government to support and develop the local product, to meet the daily needs of consumers.
Ahmed Phiri Firdaus, a researcher at the Endive Institute for Economic and Finance Development in Indonesia, warns of the importance of directing the boycott campaign to be wise and profound in order to have an impact, noting that boycotting companies that have no connection to Israel in any way will negatively affect the local workforce.
Ma’ruf Amin, the Indonesian Vice President, also called for there to be an authority with authority to determine companies that support Israel so that companies that have no connection to it are not affected.
In this context, Indonesian Trade Minister Zulkifli Hassan confirmed that his government will not take any action regarding the boycott, and will not issue a list of companies related to it, indicating that this is considered a societal movement, and citizens have their right and opinion, and that the government bears the duty of legalizing commercial transactions only.